Keep Breathing
by K.M.Benidir2012
Summary: It should have been the happiest day of Thor and Jane's life, but it wasn't. How does one cope with such unexpected disaster? Will Thor ever find happiness again?
1. Perfection

**Hi! This is a side project so updates will be either a week to two weeks apart. It will be short (around 10-15 chapters). There is no thick plot (a bit more like my fic "The Greatest Love" than my other work). Please let me know what you think. This story has a general shape, but nothing definitive. Also, there is no Loki in this fic (sad for my fellow Loki lovers), but it is a Thor fic. Enjoy!**

Everything was perfect. The hall was decorated beautifully thanks to Stark Industries and its spearhead, Pepper Potts. They provided the space free of charge, secured the pews, and paid for an absurd amount of floral arrangements. Jane was charged with buying her wedding dress and the bridesmaids' gowns; the Asgardians provided the food, and lots of it. All was perfect.

Tucked in a room down a private corridor was Jane who stood nervously examining herself in a mirror. Her makeup was light and simple, her hair fell in loose ringlets, and her dress, it was perfect. Perfection. Should she be concerned that everything was perfect? Didn't normal weddings involve fights? Considering the amount of alcohol the Asgardians had brought with them, there should have been at least one incident of drunken abuse. Where were the flurries of tears that should have been shed? She hadn't shed any, neither had her mother. Darcy always became too emotional, she cried, but it just wasn't the same.

Nerves. Those were normal, right? A jittery unpleasantness tormented brides occasionally, according to the bridal magazines Jane had read. She fanned her arms in an attempt to control the perspiration. Why was she perspiring so much? Nerves. It's alright to be nervous on her wedding day and it was perfectly normal to perspire as a result.

"Breathe, Jane," she mumbled to herself. "You're marrying Thor. Earth is safe. There is no Loki and there is no Malekith. No more Aether. It's perfect."

As she stood flipping her curls around she continued to mutter the word "perfect". A few minutes passed before she heard a knock at the door. "Yes?"

"Jane, it's Erik. We're ready when you are," he stated from the other side of the door.

"Perfect," she muttered. "Okay, I'm coming," she called back to him. With one last look, she observed herself once more. Satisfied, she went to the door, opening it to see her teary eyed friend and colleague.

"Jane," declared Erik as he beheld her. "I'm sorry your father couldn't be the one to give you away. He would be so proud of you and the woman you've become. You followed your heart."

She smiled at him. "Yes, I did." Her stomach flopped.

"Are you okay?" Asked Erik.

Jane nodded. "I'm a little nervous."

"And a little green."

"Jane, come on. I'm hungry," moan Darcy from down the hall. Her quirky intern and friend waved two bouquets around carelessly. Several petals fell from the abuse.

"Darcy, be careful, that one is Jane's." Darcy's own personal intern, Ian, intervened on behalf of Jane's wedding bouquet. He snatched it away as quickly as he could before Darcy managed any more damage. The two of them glared at each other briefly.

Jane's stomach did another flip. As Ian handed her the bundle of spring flowers Darcy straightened and went to the door that led into the sanctuary. She mumbled an apology to Jane and waited for the the doors to open.

Thanks to Thor's relationship with _the_ Tony Stark, Jane would walk down the aisle of her wedding to an actual orchestra, well, a quartet of cellos. An orchestra had been bit much and the thought of having one had consistently filled Jane with sheer dread. She was a scientist and a grown woman, not a ten old girl dreaming of Prince Charming. Jane was inventive and investigative, she thought outside the box, not within its parameters. An orchestra was simply not her. It wasn't Darcy either. Jane never could understand Darcy's enthusiasm for an orchestra when she knew her intern would have prefered to put her Ipod on shuffle.

"Ready, Jane?" asked Erik as he offered her his arm. He led her to the door, but kept her hidden. "Let's go."

She saw Thor first, dressed in his Asgardian armor, he was smiling brightly at her. He was perfect, sheer perfection. Jane dared a glance at all the people standing and looking at her. There was a mass of Asgardians and the Avengers on Thor's side. Odin was nowhere to be found; even for their wedding, Odin could not care enough to visit. His absence did not faze her. They had a mutual contempt for each other. But she did see Lady Sif. She could not deny that she felt threatened by the woman, but not because she was a warrior. Sif was, perfect.

"Jane," whispered Erik. "Are you okay? Why have you stopped?"

Had she stopped? Jane looked around. Indeed, she had stopped. Her eyes darted back up at Thor. His smile was gone and he stared at her through furled brows. He took a step forward. Jane's mind snapped, her stomach raged; she felt faint.

"No," she cried with a shaky breath.

"Stop!" Cried Thor as he made to rush to help her. "She is unwell."

"No. I can't." She stared wildly around her. "I can't do this. I can't marry you, Thor." Tears burst from her eyes before she disappeared beyond the doors.

Thor stopped for a moment. "What? Jane, wait."

Erik stopped Thor and let Darcy through to pursue Jane. As the women closest to Jane fled the room, Erik tried to calm Thor down. Nothing could keep him calm. Everything had been so perfect, he had worked so hard to make it so. What happened?


	2. Bewilder Meade

**Thank you for coming back. Chapter 3 will be up in about a week or two. I tried to keep this simple. I am more detailed oriented, so I tried to removed that element, but if you feel I should add more detail, let me know. :)**

A table of brown, polished wood stretched around a wall housing a surplus of alcohol. Many of the bottles sat untouched against the glass panes that proudly displayed them. The rest of the alcohol sat in barrels on the floor. One such barrel sat upon the polished table where its contents were rapidly disappearing into Thor's mug. The mug was emptied almost as soon as it was filled.

Thor sat at the bar drinking his meade in a silent stupor. Tears trickled down his face each time he thought over how Jane had run off. She hadn't looked back she didn't wait for him, she just ran. His hands shook with the desire to throw the glass mug; it was a struggle for him to wrap his mind around her sudden abandonment.

Where could they have gone wrong? Just yesterday they had been discussing their lives together. They talked about their future together. How had this happened? Was she sick? But then why would she not return his attempts to contact her? He had learned to use the over complicated cellular phone as per her request and now she denied him the chance to speak with her. He just didn't understand.

Thor filled his glass once more, his head was already becoming foggy and his thoughts began running together. His heart heaved when he remembered how his guests had stared at him; they sat with anticipation for what he might do. He did nothing. When Erik stopped him, he just stood dumbly watching the space Jane had occupied minutes before. How could he have done something? Was it common for mortals to run away from their weddings? His guests had stared at him as if he knew what to do or what was suppose to be done, but he was clueless.

"O-kay," came a voice from behind Thor. He did not turn to look at the source of the voice, he already knew who it was.

"Tony, I am in no mood," stated Thor firmly as he took a sip of his meade, he savored the nothingness feeling it was now providing him.

Tony Stark set his hand upon Thor's shoulder. "Look, I get it, well, not really; I've never been dumped. . . . I digress," he added when a look from Pepper, who stood nearby, reminded him of his task. "Now, I say this as someone who loves a good drink, and drinks a lot; you should lay off on the drinking."

"Mind yourself," snapped Thor. His head swayed.

Another figure approached Thor from behind. "I'll take care of it from here," she said. It was Lady Sif who next approached Thor. She took a seat next to Thor and encouraged Tony to grant them some privacy. Sif took another glass mug and filled it with the Asgardian meade.

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Sif distracted herself during this time by examining the various beverages displayed on the other side of the bar. She marveled at the different colors and pondered their different tastes. Mortals were complicated in every aspect.

"It is good that the bar is still intact," Sif mused.

Thor turned to face her. "I do not understand, Lady Sif."

She smiled at him. "Do you remember when Loki brought the Frost Giants into Asgard on the day of your coronation? Do you remember how angry you were? You overturned the table in the dining hall. Made such a mess."

He eyed her, unsure as to why she would bring up what he considered to be a dark chapter in his life. As he searched her face, he began grinning. It was a crooked, drunken grin, but one that exposed how obscure he had been during those days. "Yes. I convinced all of you to go off with me. Life was so simple then. I was so simple then."

"No, Thor, you weren't. You've never been very simple. You're passionate and that is why people love you, that is why we are drawn to you." Sif set her hand upon his. "For now, let us not drink away the past. Your friend has offered you a space in his tower, that eyesore in New York, I believe. Your friends believe it is the best place for you to be."

"What about Jane?" He asked with a sudden desperation in his eyes. "What if she needs me? What if she is ill and afraid to tell me?"

It pained Sif to no end to see him disparage over Jane, it unnerved her that he disparaged over anything. Where was her strong Thor? She wondered. But she would have patience for her friend; they were far from over with Jane, and Thor would need his friends.

"Jane is well cared for and I am sure that she will notify you of her well being at some point. For now, let her be."

Sif helped Thor stand as the meade he had consumed was quickly working its way through him. Volstagg went to Thor's other side. His friends carried him out of the reception hall and up to the building's roof. Guests had left hours ago, leaving only a handful of Asgardians, and several of the Avengers. When they reached the roof the country club that hosted Thor's failed wedding, they came to a helicopter with Tony's name written in grey paint over a black finish. Sif backed out of the way as Thor's rotund friend, Volstagg, rolled him onto the floor of the helicopter. Sif was sure he could not have consumed enough meade to pass out, but assumed that he just didn't care enough at the moment to stay awake.

Once he was in the helicopter and secured for the time being Sif stepped back to speak with Tony. "Are you sure it will be alright if he remains in your home?"

"He can be rather destructive," added Volstagg as he approached them. He took his hands to his auburn colored beard and smoothed it out.

"Yeah, I know all about that. George! What are you waiting for? Start the damn thing!" Shouted Tony to his pilot. Turning back to the Asgardians, he addressed them once more. "It'll take a few minutes for it to start up. Good ol' Steve Rogers will go with you all."

As if on cue, Steve approached the growing group. He was dashing in his suit with his hair slicked back in the same manner he would have worn in the forties. He smiled silently and nodded to Sif. "Ma'am."

Sif led Volstagg and Fandral to the helicopter where the three Asgardians hopped into their seats. Pepper, Tony, and Steve remained speaking before the sound of the helicopter's rotors became too loud.

"Was it necessary for you to say that a woman has never ended things with you?" Asked Steve as he lifted his head in a chastising manner.

"Steve is right, Tony. Things can always change and you can be Thor riding away in sorrow," chimed Pepper. She gave Tony a severe look.

Tony sighed. "Fair enough. I'll leave hammer time alone." He crossed his arms over his chest and watched as the Asgardians shuffled around in their seats.

"Do you think he'll be okay?" Asked Steve. Losing the woman you love is never easy. Peggy Carter had been the first woman to ever even look at him and fate had terminated their chance to be together. He could sympathize with Thor, but he couldn't understand why this happened to him.

"Give him some time. He needs to come to terms. Jane left him," said Pepper as she glanced at her phone. The men crowded her, wanting to know more. "Her friend, Darcy, texted me and said that Jane grabbed a bag of clothes and dragged her out the door. She has no idea where Jane is taking them and Jane has yet to explain what happened."

"Well," said Steve. "I had best go with them. We'll see what happens tomorrow." Steve fled the couple and boarded the helicopter. As he seated himself, he gave Thor a pitiful look before focusing his gaze on what lay beyond the window.

Pepper and Tony turned away and began their descent back into the building. "Would you really dump me?"

"There have been times," replied Pepper with a smirk.


End file.
